Eastern Tiger Swallowtail – Georgia State Butterfly

Eastern tiger swallowtail on
crabapple (Malus angustifolia)

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly has been on my mind recently. On April 6^th, an individual that I’d overwintered finally eclosed (came of its chrysalis) after 7 months! The life cycle of these insects is really amazing. It is certainly fitting that this large butterfly is the state butterfly of Georgia as it is so abundant during the spring and summer.

The 3 color forms – yellow male, yellow female, and dark female – add a bit of interest to its discovery as we try to figure out (in flight!) which one we’re seeing. This blog of mine shows pictures of all 3 forms and talks about comparing to other dark swallowtails.

Two females on Phlox paniculata

Eastern tiger swallowtail on Aesculus parviflora

Recently someone asked on Facebook about what flowers she could plant to support specifically this butterfly in Georgia, so I started thinking about all the native flowers that I’ve seen them on. The following photos were taken from 2014 to this spring. They seem to be a very adaptable adult when it comes to choosing flowers for nectar. In addition to these, I know that they like ironweed (Vernonia sp.), beebalm (Monarda sp.), and coneflower (Echinacea sp.) as well.

On Franklinia alatamaha

On blazingstar (Liatris aspera)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on a very ragged
Hibiscus coccineus

On mountain mint
(Pycnanthemum incanum)

On common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Dark female on butterfly weed

This topic would not be complete without mentioning the native host plants that keep this butterfly flying here in Georgia. This butterfly has evolved to use a number of different plants and the females will lay eggs on the leaves of tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera), sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana), ash (Fraxinus sp.), wild cherry (Prunus sp), basswood (Tilia americana), and a few others. I found my caterpillar on green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica). If you’d like to support this butterfly, make sure you have at least one of these plants in your landscape.

On Agastache foeniculum

On tall thistle (Cirsium altissimum)

On buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

On Rudbeckia laciniata

Female dark/light morph on Eupatorium serotinum

On native azalea (Rhododendron canescens)

On devil's walking stick (Aralia spinosa)

On rosinweed (Silphium sp.)